Liquid dispenser



May 9-, 1944. L. G. BATES LIQUID DISPENSER Filed May 9 1940 INVENTOR.

BY LAWRENCEQBATES ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 9, 1944 LIQUID DISPE NSER Lawrence .G. Bates, Shaker Heights, Ohio, assign- Say- When Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May9, 1940, Serial No. 334,233

2 Claims. (1215-44 or to Continental In dispersing liquids, beverages, flavoringextracts, etc., from narrow mouthed containers,

such as bottles, jugs and the like, splashing and spilling is prone to occur on account of interference of the in-rushing air, and it is very difiicult to gauge and control the amount desired to be poured. In an effort to mitigate this condition, air vents have been located in pouring stoppers, the liquid being supposed to flow out through one passage while air enters through a smaller auxiliary passage. This however has not satisfactorily removed the difficulty. Unless the device be handled very slowly and carefully, liquid is prone to flow out through both passages, and there is suiiicient interference to also occasion running down of drops of liquid after the pouring operation is completed, thereby causing mussiness in the condition of the outside of the container. In accordance with the present invention a construction may be had which can be used very rapidly and without particular care and which allows discharge of liquid without interference from trapped air and without spilling down the outside of the bottle or the like. Other advantages and distinctive features will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof taken at a plane substantially indicated by line Il'.-II, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevational detail; and Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a modification.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a device adapted to be placed on a container C, such as a bottle, jug, etc., and embodying a closure means which may have a cork or rubber 2 fitting as a stopper in the neck of the container, and through which passage-ways 3, 4, communicate with the container. A hollow chamber surmounts the closure, and desirably this is divided into two compartments, 5, 6, each having communication to the container through the passage-ways 4, 3, respectively. The chamber 6 terminates in an external opening 9 for discharge of the liquid, and preferably the axis of such discharge openingis at an oblique angle to the axis ofthe container. Guarding the opening is a check-stopper i0, which is gravity-operated; and whosestem ll extends down through the opening into the chamber and terminates in an enlargement I2 which acts as a stop when it slides down against the converging portion M of the wall of the outlet. Such stopper, readily opening by gravity when the container is turned up, is stream-lined and allows out-flow of the liquid, and when the container is turned back into normal upright position the stopper falls back and seats on the discharge opening. This prevents evaporation and exclude dirt, etc., and also prevents residual drops of liquid from running down on the outside of the container. The enlargement I2 is flattened and has a relatively sharp edge, and acts as a sort of rudder. The liquid stream causes it to center the stem and head I 0 so that the out-flow is particularly even and smooth thereabout. The compartment 5 forms an air chamber for supply of air to the container through the passage-way 4 to meet the needs as liquid is withdrawn from the container. A feature of the present invention is the provision of a particularly abundant air supply in such reserve chamber, thereby preventing temporary unbalance of adjustment between liquid and air in the container. The air chamber is provided with an air inlet opening l6 near the liquid discharge opening 9. If by chance any liquid should get into the air chamber, it may thus drain out quietly during the operation of the pouring, and there i no tendency to afterescape down on the outside of the container. A further air inlet I1 is usually provided also.

In some cases it is desirable to have an air inlet l'l', Fig. 4, located so that it can be controlled by the operators finger as a valve. The device is otherwise as the foregoing.

By arranging the tube conduits 3, 4, and the like, as in Figs. 2-4, in side by side relation, passing through the cork in a transverse section which is elongated or somewhat in the form of a Figure 8, as opposed to a symmetrical circular crosssection, a further result is that the cork 2 etc. is held more firmly to the conduit stem portion and does not twist loose and stretch and lose its fit and become easily displaced, as is the case where the conduit stem is evenly cylindrical,

The manner of use of the invention will be fully understood from the foregoing, and in the operation of dispensing by inverting the container over the receiving receptacle the desired amount of liquid may be discharged, and in all the forms 1. A device of the character described adapted to be placed on a container of liquids, which comprises a closure means, a liquid-chamber thereon communicating through the closure means with the container, an elongated narrowed discharge spout extending beyond said chamber at an angle to the axis of the container, means in common for externally closing the spout and for centering in and directing the liquid stream in smooth flow around it whenopen, having an elongated tapering cone extremity outside the spout and an elongated tapering cone portion inside and a tail piece in the form of a flat rudder in said liquid-chamber and a long thin stem extending through said spout into said liquid-chamber to join the rudder to said inside cone portion, an unsymmetrical wall portion in said liquidchamber on one side against which said rudder coacts, and an air passageway independent of said chamber communicating between the container and an opening adjacent the base of said spout.

2. A device of the character described adapted to be placed on a container of liquids, which comprises a closure means, a liquid-chamber thereon communicating through the closure means and having an external discharge opening, said discharge opening being at an angle to the axis of the container, a check stopperfor said opening, air passage-way means independent of said discharge opening communicating between the atmosphere and the container, and means for centering said stopper in the outflowing stream of liquid including an elongated tapering cone extremity on said stopper outside said discharge opening and an elongated tapering cone portion inside and extending into a long thin stem terminating in a fiat rudder.

LAWRENCE G. BATES. 

